Tag: Emission Reductions

Developed country pledges: Where are Parties after Cancun?
In Cancun Parties agreed on keeping warming below 2°C and agreed to consider moving to
1.5°C. Parties also recognised the 25-40% range for developed countries. At the same time
developed countries recognised that current pledges are too low, that deep cuts are needed
and that mitigation efforts must be ‘scaled-up’ - with developed countries showing
leadership.
The workshop revealed that there is urgent clarity needed on the following points:
1. Developed countries must clarify what their true emissions will be, i.e. their
assumptions on forests and other land use accounting, the use of carbon offsets and
hot air carry-over, in order to close all loopholes.
2. Developed countries with current pledges below the 25-40% range must explain how
their low pledges
- should be compensated for by other developed countries making higher cuts
instead,
- are consistent with their fair share of the globally needed mitigation effort.
3. Developed countries whose pledges are
- below their current Kyoto targets, and/or
- below BAU under existing domestic legislation and targets (e.g. efficiency
targets),
must explain how those pledges constitute progress.
4. Developed countries must explain how their 2020 pledges will allow them to
achieve near-zero emissions by 2050.

... to read the full document, view the pdf above.

View the presentation.

Tags:

Topics:

Organization:

Climate Action Network

UNFCCC

Related Event:

Bangkok 2011

Brazil in Reverse

Submitted by Anonymous on December 9, 2010 - 2:59pm

Brazil seems to be its own worst enemy. Not only did President Lula publicly state last week that the negotiations in Cancun won´t go anywhere, the Brazilian legislature is on the verge of delivering a fatal blow to real hope for future emissions reductions. Brazil’s remarkable recent accomplishments could well be stopped cold.
The annual emissions of CO2eq in Brazil in all economic sectors is on the order of 2 Gt. In 2010, Brazil announced another record for emissions reduction, to applause from ECO and the world. Brazil’s deforestation rate fell to another record low, with Amazon deforestation down from over 27,000 km2 in 2004 to below 6,500 km2 this year.
And yet the Brazilian House of Representatives is ready to approve a new forest code that will be the most shameful endorsement of anthropogenic global warming in recent history. And it seems that some 370 of the 513 Representatives are ready to approve this leap backwards.
The bill provides amnesty to illegal deforestation and degradation, it reduces the preservation area along rivers, and eliminates the need for legal reserves for rural properties of a certain size and a discount for larger properties.
When Brazil associated itself with the Copenhagen Accord, its commitment was to reduce emissions by 36.1% to 38.9%, the latter being about 1 Gt of CO2eq.
However, a recent study coordinated by a group of respected NGOs in Brazil, including Fundação Boticário, WWF-Brazil, TNC–Brazil, IMAZON, SPVS and Conservation International, demonstrates that just two of the many changes in the proposed forest code will massively increase Brazil´s total national emissions as well as reduce its carbon  storage.
And so all of a sudden, all Brazilian forests are again at risk. In this case, the primary cause is a direct consequence of human  activity – a vote.
The world was thrilled and energized by Brazil’s amazing accomplishments in reducing forest degradation. Now it is our responsibility to say that turning back on this grand achievement is simply wrong.

Tags:

Topics:

Region:

Related Event:

Anonymous's blog

Northern Lights?

Submitted by Anonymous on December 4, 2010 - 12:18pm

ECO thought that leaving the gray winter chill for sunny weather here in Cancun,  Canada wouldn’t want to hide behind an  Umbrella.
Japan certainly has been taking a lot of heat this week for its objection to a second Kyoto commitment period. But Canada has been under wraps – until yesterday, when the Executive Secretary yanked the umbrella away and exposed their true position to daylight. For it seems Canada has been opposing a Kyoto renewal behind closed doors.
Canada has been silent about other things too. Last week, evidence surfaced that the Canadian government is running a coordinated advocacy strategy to stall climate change and energy policy in Europe and the US, the country whose energy path Canada claims to follow. And last month, Canada’s unelected Senate skipped debate and blocked major climate change legislation passed by the elected House of Commons.
It has not stopped at blocking policy, though. Canada is also obstructing science. Climate research funding has been slashed. Government scientists have been gagged. The country’s premier Arctic research vessel is being rented out for oil exploration. Instead of falling, Canadian emissions have risen 30% since 1990. Canada was the only country to adopt targets under the Kyoto Protocol and then openly renounce them. Canada was the only country to return from Copenhagen last year and immediately weaken its emissions reductions targets. Canada’s government has made a habit of bad faith.
The citizens of Canada, however, consistently support climate action and the Kyoto Protocol in national polling. The environment has frequently been highlighted as the most important issue to Canadians, even while their government was wrecking it.
And ECO can’t avoid the thought that Canada might be better off with its delegation asleep on the beach.

Tags:

Region:

Related Event: